THE AUTEUR is out today, which is a wonderful and wonderfully fucked up story about Hollywood. I did a Decompressed of it, which CBR has ran as a transcript. I’ll be getting the podcast up at some point (hopefully soon), but you should definitely give it a nose. It really is like nothing else.

In this very special podcast, I’m joined by Eisner-award winner Becky Cloonan.

Becky’s career dances between what we could term the mainstream and what we could term the alternative, never resting, never finding a home, but never once seeming uncomfortable. I’ve loved her since the Jennie Zero graphic novel with Brian Wood, and never done anything to make me feel otherwise about her work. Today, we’re talking about her self-published trilology of short comics – Wolves, The Mire and Demeter, which are being collected into an expanded hardback under the name By Chance Or Providence.

However, I do warn you, This really is a very special podcast in a very real and not particularly complimentary way. The skype recording went amazingly haywire, randomly double-tracking Becky and losing me for ten minutes at a time, before returning to normal. I’ve actually done a massive editing job, re-interjecting questions and similar. It just about hangs together.

One of the front pages for Wolves. Immediately the mood is set. I love the complicity in the fourth-wall breaking.

The first image of the story proper, and a flash forward.

The furthest-forward in time sequences.

Close on the alternative art style for the flashback sequence to the earliest periods.

THE MIRE First image in the Mire. One bit I lost in the recording was talking about how the neutrality of this is very understated first time through the book, which alters with later knowledge. White space is key here.

The much-discussed collage/romance sequence.

DEMETER The image in Demeter before the story. Way to set the mood, y’know?

This time I’m joined by Antony Johnston. Antony previously appeared in Decompressed 15, talking about THE COLDEST CITY. But that was in front of an audience at Game City, so we were on our best behaviour. This time we’re mumbling on Skype, as is a comic creators preferred form of communication. Except passive-aggression, obv. Anyway! Antony’s career as a writer is divided between his work in Games and Comic. In comics, until recently his signature work was the post-apocalyptic series WASTELAND. That may be changing, as he’s recently launched two new series via Image. The first, UMBRAL is an excellent Dark Fantasy book. The second, and the subject of today’s discussion is, THE FUSE, his book with Justin Greenwood, Shari Chankamma and Ed Brisson.

At this year’s always excellent Thought Bubble, an odd opportunity presented itself. Our final issues of Young Avengers were what’s oft referred to as “Jam Issues.” In other words, multiple artists telling a single story. By an odd quirk of fate, all the artists and most of the colourists were going to the same con. In other words, we could totally do a panel together about the experience.

And lo! There was a people’s revolutionary meeting gathering.

Photo via Abigail Brady

There was one problem. The issues in question weren’t out yet, and we were incredibly sensitive over spoiling stuff. So as well as swearing everyone to secrecy, we were pretty obtuse in terms of what we did talk about. This makes this a quite hard one to follow without looking at the slides you’ll find below. You’ll see they were – er – often edited. If you have read the issue, it’ll probably be easier to flick through each artist’s section when they talk. If you don’t own it, it’s available digitally.

There’s another problem. This is recorded by my microphone in the middle of the room, and the sound is crapper than usual. I’m really not joking.

Study AidsYOUNG AVENGERS AFTERPARTY SLIDES (In a handy PDF format) These slides were done the morning of the event. The program crashed three times, losing all the work. They’re not exactly masterworks, shall we say.

Recently, I was asked by the great GOSH comics whether I’d be interested in hosting an audience with Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips about their work together. As if I was going to turn that down, eh?

And they let me record it to play to you lot.

We cover everything from their earliest work together, to the hardest scenes in the latest issue, from working with colourists, who really is a tracer, taste, storytelling choices in the Image age versus the grids, adding or removing panels, teasing and more.

The topic is enormous. We race to include as much as we can, and fail badly. Ideas come rushing out. People put positions forward that by the chat after the panel they’ve changed their minds about. It’s fluid, but fluid like lava. As I was on this panel, I moved between from red hot anger to complete and utter love for everyone who’s ever lived.

Decompressed is a sporadic podcast about comics craft. This time we’re talking to Al Ewing about his writing on the recent Mighty Avengers #1. Our topics include the problems of writing in a crossover, the marvel method, lettering as dubbing, diversity, class, fair pay for a days’ job, the A-list vs the C-list and lots of ums as we try to avoid fucking up.

Want to read the whole thing? It’s available to buy on your local comic shop, or via Comixology here.

Decompressed is a sporadic podcast about comics craft. This time I’m talking to Kris Anka, Ming Doyle and Jamie McKelvie to talk about the art of character design. It’s a visual medium, so this stuff is absolutely paramount. Ming’s designs are central to her wonderful MARA with Brian Wood, Kirs’ designs are all over X-Force and McKelvie has (damn him) has sent more cosplayers rushing to their sewing machines than any artist working today. We cover the whole topic, in terms of how they specifically approach the choice, their favourite designs, the question of plausibility, specific costume designers, Emma Frost’s clothes pyre, my inability to say “Segue”, the horrific idea of how I’d redesign Batman and on and on and on. Join us! It’s not rubbish.

Decompressed returns, with a difference. This time we’re talking to Bettie Breitweiser and Matt Wilson, two of my favourite colourists about their work, primarily related to FATALE 14 and WONDER WOMAN 20. If there’s any one part of collaborative comics’ creative engine that is underdiscussed and misunderstood, it’s colouring. It’s always been important, and in the last decade, it’s only become more so.

You can buy Fatale 14 and Wonder Woman 20 from your local comic shop, or digitally. Fatale is here and Wonder Woman is here.

This decompressed we talk to artist/writer Jason Latour about the process of starting his first ongoing run for Marvel, on WINTER SOLDIER 15.

Is that a worryingly prosaic and sensible intro for Decompressed? Don’t worry. It was recorded in a busy cafe in November, the day after a con, and features our minds wandering over such stuff as ads in Breaking Bad, UP-as-serial-killer, the Dukes of Hazard as founding influence, love of old white dudes AND we have a guest appearance from Ivan Brandon, snoozing. This isn’t a podcast. This is a defining cultural moment for a generation.

Lazarii

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